The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Traditionally, if an advertiser wanted to display content on each of the signage devices in the network, one option would be to physically deliver the content to a network administrator who would then upload the content to each of the signage devices individually. For example, an advertiser could mail a USB mass storage device (i.e., “thumb drive”) to the network administrator who would then upload the content at each signage device, where it could then be displayed. As will be understood and appreciated, such a process is both time consuming and difficult to manage as someone must walk from signage device to signage device while keeping track of each upload.
Alternatively, if the private network was appropriately configured, an advertiser could send the media content to each individual signage device in the network via a network connection (e.g., via an Internet connection). This approach is likewise disadvantageous because each instance of the media content necessarily must be filtered through the router or other entry point into the network. As will be understood and appreciated, this often causes a severe bottleneck at the network entry point and slows down delivery of content to the signage devices. Further, such a configuration leaves private networks having signage devices vulnerable to attacks from hackers or others with malicious intentions who may wish, for example, to display inappropriate content on the signage devices in the network.
Therefore, there is a long-felt but unresolved need for a system for efficiently and effectively delivering media content that is also capable of processing the content for delivery to a specific private network of digital signage devices, wherein the system is configured to deliver the content in response to a request from a signage device within the private network. Likewise, there is a need for a system capable of tracking delivery of processed content to the private network to prevent redundant transmission of media content to the network.